Krance



March 31, 1964 I c. KRANCE 3,126,632

METHOD OF WRAPPING CANDLES Filed April 8, 1963 I 2 Sheets-Sheet l March 31, 1964 Filed April 8, 1965 C. KRANCE METHOD OF WRAPPING CANDLES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 QAJMV 17475222212 ffmm United States Patent 3,126,682 METHOD OF WRAPPING CANDLES Casimir Krance, Oshkosh, Wis., assignor to Victrylite Candle Co., Oshkosh, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Apr. 8, 1963, Ser. No. 271,409 2 Claims. (Ci. 53-30) This invention, like that of application Serial No. 190,- 567, filed April 27, 1962, of which this is a continuationin-part, relates to the packaging art and refers particularly to the packaging of candles, and especially candles of the graceful, hand-dipped variety that are used by discriminating hostesses to lend charm and dignity to table settings and as other evidences of gracious living.

Obviously, such candles must reach the market in attractive packages, and to give the packages that desirable final touch of elegance, the candles are individually wrapped in transparent film such as cellophane and polyvinyl, which is available upon the market in various forms and under difierent trade names.

. The individual wrapping of candles in this manner is, of course, not new, but heretofore the enwrapment lacked the hoped-for neatness, and it added significantly to the marketing costs. Where it was done by machine the iongitudinal edges of the sheets in which the candles were wrapped were heat-sealed for their entire length and also at both endswhich, of course, produced rather unsightly outwardly projecting fins. In addition, the enwrapment was loose and baggy. Where the wrapping was done by hand, no effort was made to heat seal the longitudinal edges of the wrapper, but there was still an objectionable looseness to the enwrapment, and-most importantthe hand wrapping of candles was costly.

With a view toward providing neater packing and also reducing the cost thereof, this invention has as its object to provide an improved method of wrapping candles with an appropriate transparent film which eliminates the need for heat-sealing either the longitudinal edges of the wrapper or its ends, when practiced by machine, and when practiced by hand, obviates the twisting of the ends of the wrapper, and in either case achieves a neater appearance at lower cost.

Another object of this invention is to provide a method of individually wrapping candles in a transparent film of material such as polyvinyl chloride, which lends itself readily to being practiced either by hand or by automatic machinery.

With the foregoing and other objects in View which will appear as the description proceeds, this invention resides in the novel method substantially as hereinafter described and more particularly defined by the accompanying claims, it being understood that such changes in the precise embodiment of the hereindisclosed invention may be made as come within the scope of the claims.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one Way of practicing the method of this invention, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a candle to be enwrapped;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the same candle enwrapped in accordance with this invention;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view illustrating diagrammatically the complete method of this invention as applied to the wrapping of candles;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged view in side elevation, diagrammatically illustrating part of the structure used to practice the invention;

FIGURE 5 is a cross sectional view through FIGURE 3 on the plane of the line 5-5;

FIGURE 6 is a cross sectional view through FIGURE 3 on the plane of the line 66;

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of a candle loosely enclosed in a tube of heat-shrinkable film material, to

3,125,682 Patented Mar. 31., 1964 illustrate the relationship between the enwarpment and the candle before the enwarpment is shrunk into intimate contact with the candle; and

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view illustrating a detail of the machine or apparatus used in the practice of the invention.

Referring now particularly to the accompanying drawings, the numeral 5 designates a candle of the tapered, hand-dipped variety, shown in FIGURE 1 in its unwrapped state and in FIGURE 2 as fully enwraped in accordance with this invention.

Candles of the hand-dipped variety generally have a base 6 of a shape and size to fit a standard candle holder or candelabra, and tapering body with a wick 7 protruding from its more or less pointed upper end. It should be understood, however, that this invention is by no means limited to the wrapping of any particular kind of candle, or for that matter to candles alone. On the contrary the invention contemplates the wrapping of any article or object which, like a candle, cannot withstand high heat and is therefore not amenable to being wrapped in heat scalable and shrinkable material in the conventional manner, which involves holding a heated platen against the side of the candle to effect the sealing action. Hence, where the term candle is used herein to designate the object being wrapped, it should be construed as including any article or object which would be deleteriously aiiected by heat.

It is a feature of this invention that the Wrapping is done without any physical contact between the enwrapment and the heat source employed to effect the desired shrinkage of the enwrapment, and that heat scaling in the conventional sense is not involved in forming the enwrapment.

In broad outline, the method of this invention comprises the following steps:

(1) Forming a tube of heat shrinkable film material loosely about the candle or other article to be wrapped by shaping a web of the film material about the candle with the longitudinal edges of the web overlapping;

(2) With the candle thus loosely enclosed in a tube of heat-shrinkable film material, grasping the tube a short distance beyond each end of the candle; and then (3) Solely by these grasps on the tube, carrying the same with the candle in it past a heat source but without allowing any portion of the enwrapping tube to come into physical contact with the heat source.

The result is a package that is far superior to anything heretofore available. The wrapping hugs the surface of the candle regardless of its shape or contour, and no portion of the Wrapping protrudes fin-like from the candle. At the ends of the candle the wrapping is substantially closed.

The material used for the enwrapment may be any one of several heat shrinkable thermoplastic films available upon the market; but, of course, the film chosen should not have a deleterious effect upon the candle, as for instance causing the color of the candle to bleed out. Examples of thermoplastic heat shrinkable materials suitable for the purpose are S.T. Vitafilm made by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company; Polypropolin, a product of Dow Chemical; Cry-O-Vac, a product of W. R. Grace Co.; and Reynolon, which is made and sold by Reynolds Aluminum Company.

Reynolon is especially Well adapted to the purpose. This material has a sixty percent (60%) shrinkage factor, with complete shrinkage being produced in a very short time by relatively mild heat. Another desirable attribute of Reynolon is that it is not as limp as some of the other materials of this type and is therefore more readily handled by the machines employed in the practice of the invention; and very important is the fact that this material 3,1 3 holds a high charge of static electricity which causes it to cling tenaciously when overlapped.

To appreciate how this invention achieves its purpose without first heatsea ing the longitudinal edge portions of the enwrapment as has been deemed necessary in the past, it must be understood that Reynolon and the other suitable heat shrinkable films have the characteristic of not shrinking after the film material comes into contact with the article being wrapped. It is this quality of the heat shrinkable or thermoplastic materials that are suitable for the practice of this invention which makes possible the shrinkage of the tube in which the candle is loosely enclosed into intimate contact with the surface of the candle, without having the overlapping longitudinal edge portions of the tube pull apart, espite the fact that they are not heat-sealed in the sense this term is ordinarily used in this art, but instead cohere to one another essentially only because of the effects of static electricity.

Although the method of this invention may be practiced by hand and also by apparatus other than that diagrammatically illustrated in the drawings, the illustrated apparatus has been found to be very well suited to the purpose.

The apparatus diagrammatically illustrated in the drawings essentially comprises an elongated horizontal table indicated generally by the numeral 3, along which a web 9 of heat shrinkable thermoplastic film material is drawn from a roll ill thereof mounted beneath one end portion of the table. In traveling from the roll onto the table, the Web 9 passes over an idler roll 11 mounted at this end of the table. The web is continually drawn along the table by a plurality of rotating grippers 12 which successively grasp the web at the opposite end of the table.

The table 8 comprises two endwise adjacent sections 13 and 14, the former being formed, in cross section, into a shallow central convex trough portion 15 flanked by a pair of horizontal wings or flanges 16. The other table section 14 has a deeper U-shaped cross section.

The end portion of the table section 13 which is nearest the idler roll 11 provides a loading station A. The other table section 14, along with the adjacent end portion of the first section, provides a forming station E. The portion of the apparatus in which the rotating grippers l2 operate provides a shrink Zone C which, of course, is equipped with a heat source.

At the loading station A, an operator successively deposits candles on the traveling web with the candles disposed lengthwise of the web and held from rolling oh the web by the convex trough provided by the medial portion of the table section As the web with a candle thereon leaves the loading station and enters the forming station, the web is progressively shaped into a tube 17 loosely enclosing the candle.

There is, of course, nothing new or novel in the concept of shaping a traveling web into a tube and any conventional means may be employed to effect this purpose. In the apparatus illustrated it is done by passing the web between two upstanding cylindrical bosses 13 mounted on the wings or flanges 16 of the table section 15. The distance between these upstanding bosses is less than the width of the traveling web; hence, as the web travels between them, it is given a more pronounced trough shape. A short distance after the web leaves the bosses 18 its longitudinal edge portions are successively acted upon by a pair of tuckers 19 and 19. These tuckers comprise longitudinally extending plates 2-0 over which the edge portions of the web pass while idler rollers 21 riding on the edge portions of the web pull the same transversely toward one another to thus overlap the same.

Since the plates are relatively thin and substantially coplanar, the overlapping longitudinal edge portions of the web are in very close contiguity as they leave the tucker 19'. Hence, the strong attraction between the overlapping edge portions produced by the relatively high static charge sense 42 which the fil. material carries, causes the edge portions to cling tenaciously to one another. As a result, a tube 17 is formed around the adjacent candle, and since the overlapping edge portions of the web are disposed at a substantial distance above the top of the candle, the just formed tube very loosely encloses the candle.

Each of the grippers 12 comprises a pair of hingedly connected jaws 2324 which operate scissors-fashion to grip anything placed between them as the jaws close. The pairs of cooperating jaws are carried by a suitable rotating structure R, to travel in a circular orbit and to successively bring the same into receiving position to grip the tube 17. As the approach this receiving position, they are open, and st as they reach the receiving :osition they automatically clo Obviously the spacing between adjacent pairs of jaws is governed by the length of the candle being wrapped, this spacing being somewhat greater than the length of the candle. Also the timing of the placement of the candles on the traveling web and the length of time required for the web to travel the distance from the loading station A to the pair of jaws in position to grip or grasp the tube 17 must be such that a pair of jaws is aiways in position to grip the tube a short distance ahead of the approaching candle and a short distance beaind the trailing end of the preceding candle.

It is the gripping of the tube 17 by the jaws of the grippers l2 and the rotation of the jaws which advances the web past the loading and forming stations and since the grippers rotate at uniform speed this advance of the web is uniform. It should also be observed that the natural drag imposed upon the advance of the web by the need for stripping it from the roll 10 assures that the web will be maintained in tension as it travels along; and if desired any suitable means may be employed to increase the longitudinal tension under which the web is maintained. It is important, though, that the web be under tension at all times. This is especially so after the web is formed into a tube 17 and is in the grasp of two adjacent grippers, since it is the grippers alone which carry the tube-enwrapped candles past the heat source of the shrink zone C.

In the apparatus illustrated, the heat source in the shrink zone C consists of a blast of hot air emanating from one or more blowers 25, and heated by electric heating units not shown. The blower or blowers are spaced from the path of the tubular enwrapment with the candles therein, but direct the hot air issuing therefrom onto the enwrapped candles as they pass. It will be noted that the overlapping longitudinal edges of the enwrapment face the heat source as the enwrapped candles are carrie therepast. Accordingly, some cohesion between the overlapping edge portions of the enwrapment is produced by the heat, but primarily it is the clinging effect due to static which keeps the edge portions in contact. The instant the film material contacts the surface of the candle, it shrinks no farther. The overlapping longitudinal edge portions of the enwrapment thus do not pull apart.

Accordingly, when the enwrapped candles leaves the shrink zone C, the enwrapment hugs the candles with a skin-tight fit, regardless of the contour of the candles. Candles of the so-called twist-type, in which the surface has a helically grooved formation, as well as ordinary tapered candles, have been very successfully and very beautifully wrapped in the practice of this invention.

Not only does the enwrapment shrink into intimate contact with the surface of the candle but, in addition, the portions of the tube that are in the grip of the jaws 12. likewise shrink so that the finished enwrapment is as shown in FIGURE 2, with the end portions of the enwrapment substantially closed.

Obviously, of course, the temperature at the heat source in the shrink zone C, and the rate at which the candles are carried past it, must be correlated to bring about the desired results; and while this is a matter than can easily be determined empirically by those skilled in the art, for purposes of illustrationusing Reynolon of one-half mil thickness as the heat shrinkable thermoplastic film materiala hot air blast of 400 F. with the web, and hence the candles, traveling at ninety feet per minute, provides excellent results.

As each wrapped candle leaves the shrink zone, it is severed from the next successive candle and hence from the Web. This is preferably done automatically by depressing a spring supported knife 30 with which each jaw 24 is equipped, as the jaw passes a knife actuating cam, not shown. Thus severed from the web the wrapped candles may drop onto a delivery chute or elevator, not shown, which carries them to a packaging station where the enwrapped candles are placed in boxes.

From the foregoing description taken with the accompanying drawings, it will be apparent to those skilled in this art that this invention, for the first time, makes it possible to economically wrap candles and similar articles that cannot withstand heat, in heat shrinkable thermoplastic film and, in doing so, enhances the appearance of the wrapped candle.

What is claimed as my invention is:

1. A method of wrapping candles an similar articles which are likely to be damaged by heat, which comprises the steps of:

(A) moving a web of heat shrinkable film material which has the property of clinging to itself when lapped, lengthwise along a defined path which leads successively past a loading station and a forming station;

(B) at the loading station depositing a candle on the moving web with the candle disposed lengthwise of the web;

(C) at the forming station shaping the traveling web into a tube loosely enclosing the candle, and bringing the longitudinal side edge portions of the web into overlapping contiguity to thereby cause the same to cling to one another by the inherent tendency of the material to cling to itself;

(D) gripping the tube a short distance beyond each end of the candle therein;

(E) by said grips on the tube maintaining longitudinal tension thereon to thereby at all times resist any tendency of the longitudinal edge portions to pull apart;

(F) solely by said grips and with the tube longitudinally tensioned and its longitudinal edges clinging to one another, carrying the tube with the candle therein through a shrink zone;

(G) as the tube with the candle therein is thus carried through the shrink zone applying heat there to without physically contacting any portion of the tube with the heat source, to shrink the tube transversely in intimate contact with the surface of the candle and without pulling apart the overlapped and clinging longitudinal edge portions of the tube; and

(H) severing the enwrapped candle from the web.

2. The method of wrapping candles which comprises the steps of:

(A) providing a rolled web of heat shrinkable film material which has the property of holding a high charge of static electricity and by virtue thereof clinging to itself when lapped;

(B) grasping the web and pulling it off the roll with the web in longitudinal tension and traveling lengthwise along a defined path which leads successively past a loading station and a forming station;

(C) at the loading station depositing candles, successively upon the moving web with the candles disposed lengthwise of the web and in endwise spaced relation;

(D) at the forming station shaping the traveling web into a tube with the longitudinal edge portions thereof overlapped but spaced above the adjacent candle so that the tube loosely enwraps the candle;

(E) by the tension on the web and the mutual attraction between the overlapped edge portions of the tube due to static, causing the edge portions thereof to cling to each other;

(F) grasping the tube a short distance beyond each end of the candle therein;

(G) by said grasps maintaining longitudinal tension on the tube to thereby at all times resist any tendency of the longitudinal edge portions of the tube to pull apart and solely by said grasps carrying the tube with the candle therein through a shrink zone;

(H) as the tube with the candle therein is thus carried through the shrink zone, subjecting it to a blast of hot air to thereby shrink the tube into initimate contact with the surface of the candle without pulling apart the overlapping and clinging edge portions of the tube; and

(I) as the thus enwrapped candle leaves the shrink zone, severing the same from the web.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,113,078 Campbell Apr. 5, 1938 2,890,555 Hayssen June 16, 1959 2,894,362 Cargill et a1. July 141, 1959 2,976,657 Cloud Mar. 28, 1961 3,034,271 Carpenter et al. May 15, 1962 3,066,461 Meissner et al. Dec. 4, 1962 3,093,448 Kirkpatrick et al. June 11, 1963 

1. A METHOD OF WRAPPING CANDLES AN SIMILAR ARTICLES WHICH ARE LIKELY TO BE DAMAGED BY HEAT, WHICH COMPRISES THE STEPS OF: (A) MOVING A WEB OF HEAT SHRINKABLE FILM MATERIAL WHICH AS THE PROPERTY OF CLINGING TO ITSELF WHEN LAPPED, LENGTHWISE ALONG A DEFINED PATH WHICH LEADS SUCCESSIVELY PAST A LOADING STATION AND A FORMING STATION; (B) AT THE LOADING STATION DEPOSITING A CANDLE ON THE MOVING WEB WITH THE CANDLE DISPOSED LENGTHWISE OF THE WEB; (C) AT THE FORMING STATION SHAPING THE TRAVELING WEB INTO A TUBE LOOSELY ENCLOSING THE CNADLE, AND BRINGING THE LONGITUDINAL SIDE EDGE PORTIONS OF THE WEB INTO OVERLAPPING CONTIGUITY TO THEREBY CAUSE THE SAME TO CLING TO ONE ANOTHER BY THE INHERENT TENDENCY OF THE MATERIAL TO CLING TO ITSELF; (D) GRIPPING THE TUBE A SHORT DISTANCE B EYOND EACH THE MATERIAL TO CLING TO ITSELF; (D) GRIPPING THE TUBE A SHORT DISTANCE BEYOND EACH END OF THE CANDLE THEREIN; (E) BY SAID GRIPS ON THE TUBE MAINTAINING LONGITUDINAL TENSION THEREON TO THEREBY AT ALL TIMES RESIST ANY TENDENCY OF THE LONGITUDINAL EDGE PORTIONS TO PULL APART; (F) SOLELY BY SAID GRIPS AND WITH THE TUBE LONGITUDINALLY TENSIONED AND ITS LONGITUDINAL EDGES CLINGING TO ONE ANOTHER, CARRYING THE TUBE WITH THE CANDLE THEREIN THROUGH A SHRINK ZONE; (G) AS THE TUBE WITH THE CANDLE THEREIN IS THUS CARRIED THROUGH THE SHRINK ZONE APPLYING HEAT THERE TO WITHOUT PHYSICALLY CONTACTING ANY PORTION OF THE TUBE WITH THE HEAT SOURCE, TO SHRINK THE TUBE TRANSVERSELY IN INTIMATE CONTACT WITH THE SURFACE OF THE CANDLE AND WITHOUT PULLING APART THE OVERLAPPED AND CLINGING LONGITUDINAL EDGE PORTIONS OF THE TUBE; AND (H) SEVERING THE ENWRAPPED CANDLE FROM THE WEB 